Amino Strengthens North American Operation in Response to Growing US IP Television Market.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

CAMBRIDGE, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 5, 2004

Set-top box (STB) vendor Amino Communications has strengthened its presence in North America by founding a wholly-owned US subsidiary, Amino Communications LLC, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. The move will boost the company's sales and marketing effort and increase customer support in the region and is a response to its extensive US partner relationships in the triple-play Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) market.

Over the last six months, the company has enjoyed a substantial growth in sales to US-based telcos and hospitality clients. Recent successes include telecom operators such as SureWest Communications of California, Georgia-based Ringgold Telephone Company, and TotalVision in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

The President of the new US company will be Roy Kirsopp, an Amino board member who has led the company's global sales operation for the past two years from Amino HQ in the UK. Kirsopp will be based at the US headquarters from the end of May 2004 and joined by Karthik Ranjan as Vice President of Sales. Ranjan has had responsibility for spearheading Amino's highly successful US sales operation over the past 12 months.

IPTV is growing rapidly, enabling interactive TV services and video-on-demand (VoD) movies to be delivered over broadband telephone networks. Using Amino's low-cost, highly integrated set-top boxes, subscribers can watch digital-quality television and access a wider selection of movies than previously available, all with full interactivity.

Roy Kirsopp commented, "We are looking to consolidate Amino's presence in North America as the supplier of the IPTV industry's most cost-effective integrated set-top boxes. Following exceptional growth in the US, this is an ideal time for us to strengthen our customer support and technical expertise in the region. It's another step in the development of our global business and demonstrates our commitment to the expansion of the IP-based TV market."

About Amino

Amino Communications Ltd. (www.aminocom.com) is a designer and supplier of electronic systems and consultancy, specialising in products for digital broadcast and on-demand TV, IP-TV (telco triple-play applications), hospitality, and in-home multimedia distribution. The Amino range of small, low cost, high functionality set-top boxes and gateway products is designed for consumer applications in telecom, satellite and digital terrestrial broadcast markets, as well as on-demand systems for hotels and hospitality markets, healthcare, retail and education. Amino also provides systems consultancy, and partners with world-leading companies in content aggregation, middleware, conditional access, and head-end systems.

Amino, based near Cambridge, UK, was founded in 1997 and is privately held. It has received GBP 15m in funding from business angels and institutional investors.